Twain first started dictating into Thomas Edison's new recording machine, but he found he needed a live audience. The resulting record of his recollections and anecdotes covered nearly 2,000 typescript pages.

"This is new in the sense that he (Twain) gets to say exactly what he wanted, how he wanted," said Robert Hirst, general editor of the Mark Twain Papers.

Just released November 15, 2010, the new autobiography is on The New York Times Best Seller list. The University of California Press has increased the print run of the book from 50,000 to 300,000 copies.

The New York Times ran a recent article about the unexpected demand for the autobiography. Many people are buying it as a Christmas gift and bookstores across the country have already sold out of the autobiography.

"There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy," Mark Twain once wrote.

Twain lovers from around the world will appreciate reading about him in even greater detail in this latest, comprehensive version of his life.